Yankee Spirits opens third massive location

The new Yankee Spirits' grand opening weekend will take place Friday through Sunday, and will include music, prize giveaways, product sampling and an array of outdoor activities.

Jay Pateakos

The new Yankee Spirits' grand opening weekend will take place Friday through Sunday, and will include music, prize giveaways, product sampling and an array of outdoor activities.

The Swansea store, located in the former Sears Homelife Building on Swansea Mall Drive, measures 28,000 square feet, and is the third store for Yankee Spirits. There is a location in Sturbridge, which measures 30,000 square feet and is the largest liquor store in New England, and a store in Attleboro, which measures 26,500 square feet.

President Mike Cimini said the company felt it had both sides of the north covered pretty well and wanted to have an impact in the southern part of the state.

“We looked at a number of different locations in places like Seekonk and Swansea, but with the license situation the way it is, Swansea, and the space available they had, were the best fit for us,” said Cimini.

With the motto “If it’s out there, we’ve got it in here,” and the company promoting itself as “New England’s largest beer, wine and spirits,” Cimini was asked how he could back up the statements.

Besides the Sturbridge location being the largest liquor store per square foot, even of those in New Hampshire, Cimini listed the stock of items that he is carrying in Swansea. The assortment sounded more like that of a distribution warehouse than of a retail store.

“The Swansea store features 2,237 different wines, 1,615 different spirits and 1,100 different beers,” said Cimini. “Those numbers represent 75 percent of our overall wine selection, 85 percent of our spirits and nearly 100 percent of our beer offerings.”
In addition to the grand opening weekend, Cimini said he hopes the store and its workers will be able to make new friends and consumers in the coming weeks.

They plan to hand out checks for $500 to three local charities, including Swansea Independent Baseball League and the Swansea Fire Department.

Cimini said the charities will also be able to solicit additional donations at the events outside the store, including funds used to purchase hot dogs or other items for the charities.

“We’ve tried to do that in other stores, which has proved to be successful because the charities are made up of people from this area,” said Cimini. “We look forward to meeting our new neighbors and celebrating years to come.”